State Officials Announce Mass Pike Re-Design In Allston

BOSTON, MA (WBZ-AM) — A stretch of the Mass Turnpike in Allston will be rebuilt at ground level when the Commonwealth demolishes the I-90 viaduct at the western entrance to Boston.

All of this under a final design decision made Thursday by the Commonwealth’s Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack.

The "hybrid" design also calls for a section of travel lanes on Soldiers Field Road to be built along a new viaduct that will allow for pedestrian and bicycle lanes in the future.

Pollack says the new design will offer a balance between a road that would work as a road while protecting the Charles River and give access to the surrounding neighborhoods.

The design announcement ends the long-boiling debate over whether the Allston viaduct on the turnpike -- which needs replacing --- should be rebuilt or abandoned in favor of a highway at ground level... Which neighborhood activists supported as a way to up the communities to further development.

The project team plans to file a final environmental impact report by the end of this year and will hire a construction contractor in late 2020.